There was something about a recent news story describing a woman who saves a bundle by doing all her food shopping south of the border that made a lot of people grind their teeth.
While she has the right – and apparently the means – to shop where she wants, one wonders who she goes to, when she and her kids are raising funds to support a local sports team or service club.
That, in turn, raises the question of whose tax dollars maintain the roads on which she and her children travel, the hospital they count on to provide care when they are sick or injured, or the schools that provide an excellent education for the family’s children. It is, of course, the local merchants she shuns for the sake of cheaper stuff across the border.
Should enough people in her community take their grocery dollars to American stores, the stores on the Canadian side will inevitably close their doors. In the case of another border-crossing closure similar to what happened at the height of the COVID pandemic, Super Shopper may very well find herself travelling a couple of hours to do her shopping, and remembering with regret the nice shops that used to be open closer to home.
Before that happens, Shopper may notice her kids have no ball coach – he was a supplier for a couple of the local grocery stores, and moved away when his hours were cut. She might also lose a favourite neighbour, or a teenaged babysitter.
And then there are the reasons some foods in the States are cheaper. One big one is substantially lower wages for retail workers. Another is the fact the U.S. government heavily subsidizes the huge volumes of corn that feed factory-farmed livestock. It means fast-food burgers are cheap, at least compared to salad and healthy stuff, and heaven knows, they are all the working poor can afford.
It is something Super Shopper might think about while she congratulates herself on all the money she saves by cross-border shopping. Newton’s third law is as true of economic forces as it is of physical ones – for every action, there is indeed an equal and opposite reaction.
The timing of the story has a certain irony. The arrival of the cold weather serves as a reminder that Christmas is not that far off. This is when we start making our lists and checking them twice, and planning a couple of shopping trips.
Local merchants, many of whom are only beginning to get their heads above water following the pandemic, are depending on us to shop close to home.
Before we head out on an expedition to a city, Canadian or American, a couple of hours away, we might consider Newton’s third law. If we want to live in a thriving community, with educational, recreational and career opportunities for our children, we need to invest in our community.
When we look at the whole picture, we may find that extra couple of dollars we spend on a gift item is actually a very lucrative investment. The local store stays open, our child gets an after-school job there a few years down the road, and gains the experience that launches them on a great career path. Our service club sells raffle tickets at that store, resulting in a huge amount of money raised for equipment at the local hospital, equipment that saves the life of a beloved relative. The store itself anchors a block of thriving shops, leading a developer to decide this community is worth investing in.
And we may not find the item is more expensive than in the city. Local merchants attend the trade shows and know what items are hot this season. They try their utmost to keep prices in line with their competition. And if something turns out to be the wrong size or colour, it is infinitely easier to return it to the local store than a place two hours away.
Shopping close to home is a wise investment however you look at it.
